Will grinned at her. “That’s why the snowshoes. Otherwise, we’d just sink into the snow.” The thought gave her the willies and she shivered. “Come on, it’s not far to where we’re going.”
“Oh, I thought we were just going for a walk.”
“No, I have a destination in mind.” He raised his eyebrows at her a couple of times and started off down the trail again. Lucy stuck close to him, intrigued and abandoning her grim thoughts about suffocating in a snow drift.
There was a burst of movement in the periphery of her vision, and she swivelled in that direction. There between the trees was a doe, standing stock still and watching them. “Will,” Lucy whispered. The sound of her voice carried, and Will stopped then followed the line of her gaze. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She is,” he agreed. The doe’s head flicked to the left and in a flash, she was off, running deeper into the forest. Lucy beamed at Will and he returned her smile. “Come on,” he said softly, and she started following him again.
They walked on and about ten minutes later, emerged into a clearing. In the middle sat a compact cabin, with windows either side of a wooden door, each glowing with light from within. Lucy looked at Will questioningly, but he just smiled, revealing nothing. They climbed six steps onto a tiny porch, and Will undid his snowshoes, so Lucy did the same, having to take off her gloves to manage the fiddly task. When she stood, he was smiling down at her. “Ready?”
She nodded, then he unlatched the door and pushed it open. “Oh, Will …” It was all she could manage to say before she stepped inside.
Chapter 29
Jules
The cab ride to Matt’s was long and costly, but Matt didn’t bat an eye when the fare came to ninety dollars. He just handed over two fifties and told the driver to keep the change. Maybe they’d given him some serious drugs at the hospital, and he was too high to care. Jules couldn’t remember ever paying that much for a cab ride and the Denver airport was nearly half a state away from Boulder.
Still, she was probably only fixating on the cost because it was far better than fixating on their situation.
She had tried to distract herself during the ride, her eyes scouring one tree after another in search of the elusive koalas. Matt had told her how lucky they were on the peninsula, escaping the unprecedented bushfires that had ravaged the country the summer before. She couldn’t even imagine all that beautiful land, scarred and blackened.
Koala hunting was not enough to keep her worries at bay, however. As she and Matt sat in silence, she mulled over question after question—none of which she could answer. Eventually, she landed on just one, a question that gnawed away at her as the cab wound its way along deserted tree-lined roads.
What was she doing hanging out in rural Australia with a guy she barely knew?
She’d come for Christmas, to hang out, to get some beach time and sunshine—not to get caught up with a guy who may or may not already be “caught up” with someone else. Who the hell is this Kirsten, anyway?
Jules needed her girls. Maybe she’d try to call Chloe later. Or Lucy, if she’d even come to the phone. God, she’d created a mess. She wasn’t usually the one in the thick of drama; that was more Chloe’s department.
When she stepped out of the cab and onto Matt’s gravel driveway, she could hear Dexter’s excited yaps at their arrival and her inner turmoil receded into the background. Dexter made a beeline for them as soon a Matt unlatched the gate, darting excitedly between them, clearly overjoyed that his pack was back together. He sniffed at Matt’s bandage and gave it a lick, then looked up at his master. Matt reassured him with a vigorous rubbing of his head and ears. Jules was next, receiving a paw on her leg, a plea for more petting. She laughed freely, kneeling to comply.
Jules had forgotten how much she missed having a dog around. She’d grown up with dogs—a Labrador that Will, aged five, had (for some reason) been allowed to name Dorito, then a kelpie named Bash. Bash had been a crazy dog who barked at practically anything and earned his name by bashing his paws against the front door when the doorbell rang. His behaviour got so bad that they couldn’t turn on the washing machine unless he was in the backyard—kind of hard when there was five feet of snow on the ground. Laundry days during winter were fun—not.
Jules had missed the little guy when he died of old age, though. They’d never got another dog, and then Jules had left for college, followed by Will.
As she fawned over Dexter, Jules realised that there was something special about how she felt around dogs—that distinctive doggy smell, the wet nose landing in her lap while she had her morning coffee, the feeling of a furry being leaning against her leg, the bright intelligent eyes looking at her as though she was the most important person in the world. Well, with Dexter, the second-most important.
Maybe she was falling for Dexter rather than Matt.
She stole a look at Matt. He was watching her, his eyes alive with warmth, affection even. For me, or for Dexter?
“He’s definitely taken by you,” Matt said.
Jules laughed self-deprecatingly. “It’s easy to win over a dog. Just give them lots of kisses and love. Isn’t that right, Dex?” she added, baby-talking as she ruffled the dog’s fur. Dexter yapped in obvious agreement and she grinned.
“I don’t know
